Wilmington school repair costs up 46%

By Katie Lannan, klannan@lowellsun.com

Updated:
01/19/2013 07:22:47 AM EST

WILMINGTON -- The price tag for the planned window and door replacement at North Intermediate School has jumped to nearly $1.5 million, up 46 percent from the initial $804,000 approved at May's Town Meeting.

The original estimate was based on a recent window replacement at Shawsheen Elementary School, but the project-management firm working on the North School replacement told the town this month that there are significant differences between two renovations.

"There was a little bit of apples and oranges," said Tony Sievers of the Newton-based Diversified Project Management. "Although they're both schools and they both have windows, there's different types of window systems and different types of conditions between buildings."

A key difference is that the North School windows are shorter pieces of glass, going across the building in a longer, two-level band, making for a more expensive installation than the large, vertical windows at Shawsheen.

Municipal officials said this means a return to Town Meeting in the spring to request more money.

"We had a lot of discussions internally as to whether to proceed with this project," said Town Manager Jeff Hull. "The last thing we want to do is have to go back to Town Meeting and request additional money, but we concluded it's in our best interest to pursue this. These windows are in serious need of replacement, it's an energy-efficiency issue."

The Massachusetts School Building Authority will reimburse the town approximately half of its project costs.

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While Wilmington must initially raise the entire $1,478,000, the final cost to the town will be $740,645.

In a Jan. 8 letter to Hull, Sievers also cited a different overall economic climate since the Shawhseen windows were done in 2010.

The Shawsheen replacements were done below market value, by a contractor "motivated to keep costs down" and a designer and project manager "willing to perform the work at reduced fees," Sievers wrote.

Now, an increase in demand for public school work allows contractors to be more selective and offer higher bids.

"Part of this is the economy has just spiked, and we're seeing a growth and increase in labor and materials that we all longed for several years," Selectmen Chairman Michael Newhouse said at Monday night's board meeting. "It's good news, bad news."

The town's participation in the MSBA's Accelerated Repairs program drives up the projects "soft costs" -- fees for the designer and owner's project manager that must be selected from an MSBA-approved list. In its accelerated program, the authority shifts some of its oversight to the designer and project manager, increasing the administrative costs.

The MSBA was involved in the Shawsheen school renovations, but to a smaller degree and from a later date in the project.

Hull said that soft costs totaled $84,000 on the previous window replacements, but were projected to be $207,000 for the North School.

"I'll be vocally in support of appropriating the funds, but it's a bitter pill to swallow," said Selectman Mike Champoux. "I wish there were a way to control these costs, but we have to acknowledge that MSBA is allowing us to get a $1.5 million project for $750,000."

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